Here it is in the form of the Red Wings' 3-2 overtime victory over the Anaheim Ducks Monday night at Joe Louis Arena.

What could have been a three games to one deficit, and a nearly impossible back-against-the-wall situation, is now even.

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Pivotal game? Absolutely. And the Red Wings could not have responded better in this opening round Stanley Cup playoff series.

"As low as we were the other day, we're as high tonight," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "That's the playoffs. It's about will. It's about determination."

The Red Wings outshot Anaheim 49-33. It was impressive.

"Obviously, we played well tonight," Babcock said. "We were nervous the first 10 minutes of game, and made a lot of mistakes. We were better after that."

In the process, the Red Wings solved the puzzle that had been Anaheim goalie Jonas Hiller. The Red Wings threw so many shots at Hiller, he was almost like a boxer, who took too many body shots - and then was destroyed by a blow to the head.

The knockout punch came in the form of a Damien Brunner shot. It was off a rebound on Gustav Nyquist's attempt on a breakaway.

Hiller, who had been brilliant earlier in the game, was down on his knees at the time. It was fitting.

He looked tired. He looked beaten.

It was also misleading. It's a best-of-three series - far from over.

"You look at the shots on goal, you'd think we dominated the game - and we did," Babcock said. "But we gave up some glorious chances."

The best part: The Red Wings won the test of determination in overtime. That part of the game wasn't even close. At even strength, there were times during the extra period it appeared the Red Wings were on the power play.

It was a nice bounce back from a disappointing loss Saturday in which the Red Wings surrendered to the moment in a 4-0 loss and their competitive character, justifiably, came into question.

In the end, Jimmy Howard played well enough in goal. He had been outplayed by Hiller earlier in the series.

The Red Wings wanted to throw more pucks at the net. It was their avowed goal entering the game. And they certainly did Monday. They had 27 shots on goal during the first two periods - more than they had overall Saturday, and the Game 1 defeat at Anaheim.

Down 1-0, Red Wings' defenseman Brendan Smith flipped a shot toward the net. It hit one of best defensemen in the NHL, the Ducks' Francois Beauchemin right in the chest and flopped to the ice, slipping behind Hiller.

There are two ways to look at it. One is it was a fluke goal. Another is, especially during the playoffs, it pays off not to be too fancy, and wise, when given an equal choice, to shoot rather than pass.

It made up for a bad miscue Smith and his defense partner Kyle Quincey made near the goal, which led to tally by Anaheim's Matt Beleskey during the first period.

Anaheim took a 2-1 lead not long afterward - again following the Red Wings' bumbling of the puck in their own end.

The Red Wings tied it 2-2 when Pavel Datsyuk, a truly great player, popped the water bottle with a precise shot that beat Hiller to the short side. If Datsyuk has a flaw, it's he doesn't shoot the puck enough, even though he possesses one of the best wrist shots in the NHL. Again, another example of what happens when the puck is shot.

It's part of classic playoff hockey. So in that sense, it took the Red Wings awhile to get in that mode.

It does seem like their effort is a bit spotty. They play with a lot of energy for certain spans, but lack it at other times.

The shots on goal - the Red Wings held a 41-24 edge in regulation time - was an encouraging sign. The Red Wings proved they can carry play in this series.

Pat Caputo is a senior sports reporter and a columnist for The Oakland Press. Contact him at pat.caputo@oakpress,com and read his blog at theoaklandpress.com. You can follow him on Twitter @patcaputo98